Back to EveryPatent.com
| United States Patent |
5,328,382
|
|
Pawlicki
|
July 12, 1994
|
Electrical connector with external seal and internal terminal retaining
means
Abstract
An electrical connector includes a dielectric housing having passageways
extending therethrough. Electrical terminals are positioned in the
passageways. Resilient latch arms are provided by the housing and include
projections for engaging the terminals in the passageways. The housing has
receptacles adjacent the resilient latch arms. A seal is located in a
recess about the outside of the housing. A terminal locking and seal
retaining member includes lock arms insertable into the receptacles in the
housing for limiting movement of the resilient latch arms and thereby
maintaining the projections in latching engagement with the terminals. The
member also includes a peripheral flange for engaging the seal and
maintaining the seal in the recess about the housing.
| Inventors:
|
Pawlicki; Jeffrey J. (Downers Grove, IL)
|
| Assignee:
|
Molex Incorporated (Lisle, IL)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
047593 |
| Filed:
|
April 13, 1993 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
439/273; 439/595 |
| Intern'l Class: |
H01R 013/52 |
| Field of Search: |
439/271-283,595,599,600
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3601760 | Aug., 1971 | Cairns | 339/59.
|
| 3937545 | Feb., 1976 | Cairns et al. | 339/60.
|
| 4479691 | Oct., 1984 | Smith, Jr. | 439/595.
|
| 4557542 | Dec., 1985 | Coller et al. | 339/59.
|
| 4714437 | Dec., 1987 | Dyki | 439/595.
|
| 4749372 | Jun., 1988 | Betsui | 439/587.
|
| 4826482 | May., 1989 | Sian et al. | 439/595.
|
| 4944695 | Jul., 1990 | Tsuji et al. | 439/595.
|
| 4963103 | Oct., 1990 | Fink et al. | 439/352.
|
| 5127854 | Jul., 1992 | Fujitani et al. | 439/595.
|
Primary Examiner: Pirlot; David L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Tirva; A. A.
Claims
I claim:
1. An electrical connector, comprising:
a dielectric housing having a plug portion surrounded by a shroud portion
defining a peripheral recess therebetween, the plug portion having a front
mating end and a rear end with a plurality of internal passageways
extending therethrough, a plurality of resilient latch arms having
projections projecting into the passageways, and receptacle means adjacent
the resilient latch arms;
a plurality of terminals in the passageways and engageable by the
projections of the latch arms;
a peripheral seal including a central section of a predetermined size,
edges extending laterally from opposite sides of the central section, one
of the edges located in a recess extending about the periphery of said
plug portion;
a terminal locking and seal retaining member mountable to the front end of
the housing and including a plate portion defining a mating face of the
connector, lock means insertable into the receptacles in the housing for
limiting movement of the resilient latch arms and thereby maintaining the
projections in latching engagement with the terminals, and peripheral
flange means extending substantially about the plug portion and having a
recess extending about its periphery to accommodate the other edge of the
seal, whereby both edges of the seal are maintained in their respective
recesses.
2. An electrical connector set forth in claim 1, wherein the recess
extending about the periphery of the plug portion is a groove in the plug
portion of the housing.
3. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein the recess
extending about the periphery of the flange means comprises a groove
defined by the flange means and the outside surface of the plug portion of
the housing.
4. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein the central
portion of the seal extends into the peripheral recess between the plug
portion an the shroud portion of the housing.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and,
particularly, to an electrical connector which has an external seal and an
internal terminal retention system, and embodying a unique dual-function
locking means for both.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Electrical connectors typically include an outer dielectric housing
surrounding an array of terminals to insulate the terminals and prevent
the terminals from contacting any other electrical apparatus. The
terminals often are of the axial connectable type in which male and female
terminals of complementary connectors are axially mated in order to make
an electrical connection. To effect axial connection of the terminals, a
mating force must be applied to the terminals and, because the terminals
are encased within their respective connector housings, the terminals may
become detached from their respective housings unless they are properly
retained therewithin.
A variety of approaches have been employed for retaining terminals within
connector housings. Generally, two approaches are most common. First, the
terminals may be inserted into their respective housings and retained
therein by appropriate locking means with no further steps required. These
types of connectors often are undesirable because of the rather high
insertion forces required to insert the terminals into their respective
housings. If excessive insertion forces are compromised, the retention
forces of the terminals may be inadequate.
A second approach which has been used to achieve both low insertion forces
for inserting the terminals into their respective housings, while at the
same time providing a connector assembly in which high forces are required
to separate the terminals from their respective housings, is to use
multiple component housings in which a separate spacer or locking device
is employed to retain the terminals within their respective housings after
the terminals are inserted into the housings with low insertion forces.
Generally, a typical electrical connector employing the second approach,
above, includes a dielectric housing having passages for receiving the
terminals. Resilient latches are provided by the housing, and the latches
include projections for engaging the terminals in the passages. The
housing has receptacles adjacent the resilient latches, and a lock means
is inserted into the receptacles for limiting movement of the resilient
latches and thereby maintaining the projections in latching engagement
with the terminals.
As stated, the second approach requires multiple component housings. This
may be undesirable particularly when the connectors embody other features
which may require still further components. For instance, the connectors
may have external environmental seals, whereby one connector is inserted
into a complementary connector, with a seal ring or the like thereabout.
Often, still additional components are required to maintain the seals in
their proper positions. The overall result is that the electrical
connectors become unduly complicated and are not cost effective because of
the number of components required to make up the entire connector
assembly.
This invention is directed to solving the above problems by providing a
unique, simple electrical connector which utilizes a locking member which
performs the multiple functions of (a) defining a mating face of the
connector, (b) locking the terminals within the connector housing and (c)
retaining a seal about the periphery of the housing, all functions being
accomplished by a single easily fabricated component.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved
electrical connector of the character described.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the electrical connector
includes a dielectric housing having passageway means extending
therethrough. Electrical terminal means are positioned in the passageway
means. Resilient latch means are provided by the housing and include
projection means for engaging the terminal means in the passageway means.
The housing has receptacle means adjacent the resilient latch means, and
lock means are insertable into the receptacle means for limiting movement
of the resilient latch means and thereby maintaining the projection means
in latching engagement with the terminal means.
The invention contemplates the provision of seal means located in recess
means on the housing. The lock means is configured for maintaining the
seal means in the recess means, whereby the lock means performs the dual
function of maintaining the projection means in latching engagement with
the terminal means and also maintaining the seal means in the recess
means.
Still further, the lock means include a face plate portion to perform a
further function of defining a mating face of the connector. The face
plate portion includes aperture means in registry with the passageway
means in the housing.
As disclosed herein, the resilient latch means are located inside the
housing and the seal means are located outside the housing. Specifically,
the seal means are located in a recess surrounding the housing. The lock
means is configured to include the face plate portion defining the mating
face of the connector, along with a peripheral flange extending
substantially about the housing and engageable with the seal means, as
well as arm means projecting from the face plate portion into the housing
for limiting movement of the resilient latch means.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent
from the following detailed description taken in connection with the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are set forth
with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with
its objects and the advantages thereof, may be best understood by
reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like
elements in the figures and in which:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector embodying
the concepts of the invention; and
FIG. 2 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, through the connector
in assembled condition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and first to FIG. 1, an
electrical connector, generally designated 10, embodies the concepts of
the invention and generally includes a dielectric housing, generally
designated 12; a terminal locking and seal retaining member, generally
designated 14; a seal, generally designated 16; and a plurality of
terminals which are not visible in FIG. 1 but which will be described in
relation to FIG. 2, the terminals being mounted within housing 12.
Before even proceeding with a more detailed description of the preferred
embodiment, it is readily apparent from FIG. 1 that electrical connector
10 is very simple and, along with seal 16, includes only two basic
components, namely housing 12 and the singular terminal locking and seal
retaining member 14. As will be described below, member 14 performs a
plurality of functions, including (a) defining the mating face of the
electrical connector, (b) providing means for positively locking the
terminals within the connector housing and (c) retaining the seal properly
in position on the housing.
More particularly, referring to FIG. 2 in conjunction with FIG. 1, housing
12 includes a front end 18 and a rear end 20, with a plurality of
terminal-receiving passageways 22 extending therethrough. It can be seen
that the passageways are arranged in three rows across the connector, the
housing being elongated in the direction of the rows as best seen in FIG.
1. In essence, the passageways extend front-to-rear through a plug portion
24 of the housing, with a shroud portion 26 of the housing surrounding the
plug portion and defining a peripheral recess 28 therebetween. The recess
receives a receptacle portion of a complementary electrical connector (not
shown) whereby plug portion 24 is inserted into the receptacle portion of
the complementary connector and shroud portion 26 surrounds the
complementary connector. The housing has a cylindrical boss 30 projecting
from the rear thereof. The boss is in communication with a through hole 32
which extends entirely through the connector for receiving an appropriate
fastening means, such as a bolt or the like.
A plurality of electrical terminals, generally designated 34, are
positioned in passageways 22 of housing 12 as seen in FIG. 2. The
terminals are terminated to electrical wires 36. The terminals are
rear-loaded into passageways 22 in the direction of arrows "A". Each
terminal has a recess 38 in a side thereof.
Generally, resilient latch means are provided by housing 12 for at least
temporarily retaining terminals 34 within passages 22. More particularly,
a plurality of resilient latch arms 40, one for each terminal, is provided
with a projection 42 for engaging within a recess 38 of a respective
terminal 34 when the terminal is properly positioned within its respective
passageway 22. It can be seen that the rear sides of projections 42 are
chamfered, and latch arms 40 are sufficiently resilient to provide an
extremely low insertion force on terminals 34 when the terminals are
rear-loaded into their respective passageways 22. The entire housing is
unitarily molded of plastic or like material.
Seal 16 is shown in FIG. 1 to be a continuous, generally rectangular
component. The seal is sized and shaped for embracing plug portion 24 of
housing 12. The seal projects outwardly into recess 28 of the housing, as
best seen in FIG. 2, whereby the seal will engage and establish a seal
with the receptacle portion of the complementary connector which is
inserted into recess 28 between plug portion 24 and shroud portion 26 of
connector housing 12. As seen in FIG. 2, one edge of the seal is
positioned within a recess 44 about the periphery of plug portion 24 of
the housing.
As stated above, terminal locking and seal retaining member 14 performs a
plurality of functions. First, the member includes a plate portion 46
which spans front end 18 of housing 12 and defines a mating face 48 of
connector 10. Apertures 50 are provided through plate portion 46 in
registry or alignment with passageways 22 in housing 12. An enlarged hole
52 also is provided for registry with hole 32 and boss 30 for receiving
the appropriate fastener or bolt extending entirely through the connector.
Member 14 preferably is unitarily molded of dielectric material, such as
plastic or the like, and includes a pair of latch arms 54 projecting
rearwardly therefrom and into a pair of passages 56 in housing 12. The
latch arms have inwardly directed latch bosses 58 which latchingly engage
behind surfaces (not shown) within housing 12 to hold member 14 on the
housing. A pair of slots 60 are shown in FIG. 1, extending through plate
portion 46. These slots simply are provided as core pin slots for use
during molding of member 14.
Generally, member 14 includes lock means insertable into housing 12 for
limiting movement of resilient latch arms 40 (FIG. 2) and thereby
preventing terminals 34 from being withdrawn from the housing opposite the
direction of arrows "A". More particularly, the lock means are provided by
plates or arms 62 which are insertable into internal receptacles 64 of
housing 12 as seen in FIG. 2. Receptacles 64 are located adjacent
resilient latch arms 40 so that plates 62 limit or prevent movement of the
latch arms and thereby maintain projections 42 in latching engagement
within recesses 38 of terminals 34. Therefore, member 14, when positioned
as shown in FIG. 2, prevents removal of terminals 34 from their
passageways 22.
Lastly, member 14 provides still a further function of maintaining seal 16
in proper position about plug portion 24 of connector housing 12, i.e. in
position within recess 44. More particularly, a peripheral flange 66
projects rearwardly about plug portion 24 into engagement with a forward
edge 68 of seal 16, when member 14 is properly positioned as shown in FIG.
2. Therefore, it can be seen that seal 16 is sandwiched between recess 44
and flange 66 and is thereby maintained in position for wiping-sealing
engagement with the receptacle portion of the complementary electrical
connector.
It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific
forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics
thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be
considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the
invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.
Top